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Coming off one of his strongest outings of the season after tossing seven scoreless innings in his previous start, Cardinals starter Andre Pallante matched a season-high in runs allowed when he took the mound vs. Washington on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.

The offensive onslaught allowed by Pallante began with three runs in the first inning on a homer by Nathaniel Lowe. It continued with three runs allowed in the fourth inning and included a solo homer run in the fifth inning from Amed Rosario that left Pallante with seven runs allowed across six innings in the Cardinals鈥� 8-2 loss to the Nationals.

The last time Pallante gave up as many run as he did on Wednesday night was one June 3 against the Royals. Pallante had allowed two runs in his previous three starts, a stretch that included 18 innings of work in starts vs. the Reds, Cubs, and Pirates, but saw the Nationals surpass that total five batters into Wednesday鈥檚 game when Lowe yanked a homer to right field.

Of the 25 balls the Nationals put in play against Pallante, seven were hard hit balls with exit velocities at or above 95 mph, per Statcast. Of the seven hard hit balls, five had exit velocities above 106 mph.

With Pallante鈥檚 outing, Cardinals starters have combined to allow 22 runs through 23 1/3 innings in their last turn through the rotation. That stretch has raised the Cardinals team ERA by its starting staff to 4.30 through 93 games this season.

Relivers John King (1 1/3 innings) and Matt Svanson (1 2/3 innings) covered the remaining inning after Pallante鈥檚 exit.

A Cardinals offense that ranked 20th in batting average (.233) and tied for 19th in on-base plus slugging percentage (.662) when facing left-handed pitchers was limited to one run in six inning by Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore. The lone run the Cardinals scored against Gore came in the first inning on a single from Alec Burleson.

The only other run outside of Burleson鈥檚 RBI the Cardinals received in the loss came on a single from Masyn Winn in the seventh inning. The run by Winn came against right-handed reliever Cole Henry, who gave up two hits and walked a batter in his lone inning.

Homers hurt Cardinals

Having allowed one homer in his previous five starts heading into Wednesday, Pallante was hurt by two vs. the Nationals.

The first lifted Washington to a lead. The second added to that lead four frames later.

One out away from stranding runners at first and second base to end the first inning, Pallante left an elevated 1-1 knuckle curveball to Lowe that Lowe pulled over the right field wall for a home run that had a 106.9 mph exit velocity, per Statcast. Lowe鈥檚 homer left Pallante with one of his two three-run innings.

In the fifth inning, Rosario jumped on a 1-2 fastball from Pallante to give his team a 7-1 lead with a solo home run that traveled 434 feet to left center field.

Before taking the mound on Wednesday, the only home run Pallante had allowed in a stretch of five starts that spanned 28 1/3 innings was a solo homer to Cubs first baseman Michael Busch on June 26.

The Nationals received a third home run after Pallante鈥檚 exit.

James Wood, a first-time All-Star, belted a 433-foot solo home off lefty reliever John King with one out in the seventh inning. Wood鈥檚 homer had a 115.9 mph exit velocity making it the hardest hit ball in Wednesday鈥檚 game.

Washington widens lead

In between the first inning homer from Lowe and fifth inning blast from Rosario that combined for four of the seven runs off Pallante, the other three runs the Nationals scored on Pallante came in one frame.

Led off by a Josh Bell double that had a 109.8 mph exit velocity, Nationals hitters put together four consecutive hits to open the fourth inning and tallied a fifth hit with one out to help them to a three-run inning.

Two of the hits Pallante allowed in the fourth inning came on his fastball. Two, including a two-run single from Alex Call, came on his slider.

Gore gets into a rhythm

After the Cardinals pushed across their lone run in the first inning on a single from Burleson, they were held scoreless against Gore from the second inning through the sixth inning. Their only success against the left before his exit after six frames included three hits and a walk.

A walk from designated hitter Yohel Pozo, which marked Pozo鈥檚 second walk in 88 plate appearances, and a single from Lars Nootbaar put two runners on base with two outs. The scoring opportunity ended with a strikeout by Pedro Pages, who whiffed on a 1-2 curveball in the dirt.

Winn鈥檚 two-out double on a soft line drive that dropped into right field put a runner in scoring position for Willson Contreras after Victor Scott II and Brendan Donovan struck out to begin the inning. Contreras鈥檚 at-bat ended on four pitches with the last being a 95.4 mph fastball the got the Cardinals first baseman to whiff to end the inning.